Six middle and high school students representing Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania, have received cash awards for their winning submissions in Maryknoll magazine's 23rd annual Maryknoll Student Essay Contest.

The assignment for the 2011 contest, Jesus and Bullying, asked students to recount an incident from their lives, or describe an experience of someone they knew, that involved bullying. The students were required to ponder what they thought Jesus would have said to all the people involved in the incident.

More than 7,400 entries were received from students who competed in two divisions (grades six to eight and grades nine to 12) for nearly $3,000 in cash prizes. The awards include $1,000 for each of the two first place finalists, $300 for each of the two second place finalists and $150 to each of the two third place award recipients.

A panel of Maryknoll missioners and employees chose the following winners. The winning essays will be published here soon.

Division I (Grades Six to Eight)

First Place ($1,000): The Bishop Francis X Ford Award is named in honor of the Maryknoll priest who died in a prison in China during 1952.

• Zachary Moorman (eighth grade), St. Peter School, Huber Heights, Ohio. Teacher: Mrs. Bridget Funke.

Second Place ($300)

• Tori Carroll (seventh grade), St. Christina School, Chicago, Illinois. Teacher: Mrs. Patricia Bresnahan.

Third Place ($150)

• Julia Beu (eighth grade), Holy Family Catholic School, Orlando, Florida. Teacher: Ms. Mary McCrory.

Division II (Grades 9–12)

First Place ($1,000): The Bishop Patrick J. Byrne Award is named for the missioner who died on a forced march in Korea during 1950.

• Semaj Moore (11th grade), DeLaSalle High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Teacher: Ms. Tricia Lyngen.

Second Place ($300)

• Matthew O’Brien (12^th grade), Bethlehem Catholic High School, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Teacher: Mr. Robert Gowell.

Third Place: $150

• Anna Lampe (11^th grade), Vincentian Academy, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Teacher: Ms. Judith Apple.

The first-place essays are published in the May/June issue of MARYKNOLL magazine, together with the names and photos of second- and third-place winners. Visit www.maryknollsociety.org/essay to get the 2012 Student Essay Contest rules when they become available.